


When He Gets It

by nutshikas



Category: Love Island (Video Game)
Genre: 5 Times, Bobby's the Dumb One This Time, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, Pre and Post Villa, Recreational Drug Use, Romance, maybe? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:27:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29991114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nutshikas/pseuds/nutshikas
Summary: Bobby lives in the friendzone, or at least that's what he's always thought. He's never been good connecting with others as more than a friend; he just can't seem to push past that friendship label. Quinn is, quite frankly, getting sick of it.-or-5 times Quinn confesses and the 1 time Bobby gets it
Relationships: Bobby McKenzie/Main Character (Love Island), Bobby McKenzie/Original Character(s)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 21





	When He Gets It

**Author's Note:**

> I have not slept in 50 years and decided to write this to keep myself awake. I wanted to do something lighter and also thought it would be fun to explore what Bobby says at one point where it's hard for him to not strictly push other girls into the friend category.

“I like you.”

Conversation carries on around them as Bobby struggles to focus on the voice he’s just heard, the soft lull of his friends’ words wrapping him in a similar feeling to a warm blanket as he allows himself to glance to the side. Quinn’s bright azure eyes are red rimmed and bloodshot as she looks him over, a focused and clear look to them he’s never seen on a night like this.

Anymore, it’s impossible to get the gang together to just smoke and chat shit and vibe, so he tends to make the most of them, joining in on whatever lazy games the lads come up with and giggling into the wee hours of the morning until they all collapse into an exhausted pile on whatever soft surface is nearest.

Quinn’s tolerance has never been particularly high no matter how much she smokes with them, and the edibles they’ve taken were much stronger than usual so most of the boys were content to leave her to her own devices in the small fuzzy lounge corner Jonno’s got set up in his flat. If he’s being totally honest Bobby hadn’t even remembered she was here, so normal it is that she simply zones out for the entirety of their escapades.

“That’s nice,” he says, rather intelligently, though something in the back of his mind tells him it was  _ not _ in fact that sharp a remark. “I like you too, mate.”

And it’s true, he  _ does _ like her. He has the passing thought that he doesn’t tell her enough how much she means to him. She’s his best mate aside from Jonno, maybe even better, but Bobby would rather die than tell him that. There’s just something she’s always gotten about him that he simply can’t ignore, something that allows him to properly open up to her and reveal his deepest, darkest secrets.

They’d met in his Paisley Cuddle days, when they were in dire need of a drummer. A pint-size girl with a quiet fire in her eyes, the others hadn’t expected much. She’d proven them all wrong, dazzled the lot of them into silence almost immediately, her stage presence commanding their full attention. The band’s long since broken up but Quinn remained, a true and steadfast friend if ever he’s had one.

Perhaps something about the way her expression flickers to something less than relaxed and content should be troubling to him after he says that, but right now he can’t be bothered. Louis is hiding behind a door jamb whinging about how he’s just trying to eat his damn Oreo’s, Dean, and to stop making fun of him for the way he does it.

Bobby snorts and watches in quiet amusement, Quinn’s presence already long forgotten as the couple bickers goodnaturedly back and forth.

~+~+~+~

Finn pretends to sob as he clings to Bobby like a second skin, his fake wailing bouncing off the walls of the airport. A few people in the security line shoot their group disparaging looks but he just brushes it off. He won’t be home for who knows how long, he’ll take all the love from his friends he can get.

“Do us proud, mate,” Jonno grins, shoving Finn aside to wrap him in one of his signature bone-crushing bear hugs. “And if your new girl’s got any hot friends, send them my way, yeah?”

Bobby snickers and rolls his eyes, punching his friend gently in the shoulder. “We don’t even know if I’ll find one yet.”

Applying for  _ Love Island  _ had been a stupid idea the lot of them came up with one night when they were all piss drunk; Finn and Bobby had even gotten into a small competition to see who could come up with the most over the top answers for the application. Because of that, everyone had been thoroughly gobsmacked to find out he’d been contacted to join the latest season of the show. He’s even going in as one of the original islanders, meaning he has a way better chance than most to win the public over and find the girl of his dreams.

Even Quinn had applied, though Bobby was secretly relieved when he found out she hadn’t been accepted. He’s not totally sure why he reacted that way, chocked it up to simply missing her if she were gone that long. She hasn’t spoken to him much since they all found out, though to be fair she really only speaks when she feels it’s necessary. A real quiet broody type, very mysterious, he’d teased her once.

When he found out he made it he joked with the lot of them about how it would all be for a laugh, that he didn’t  _ actually _ expect to find the love of his life in the villa, not  _ really _ .

That was, and still is, of course, a fucking lie.

Yes, it would be for a laugh, and if he doesn’t find love he’s sure it wouldn’t be any skin off his nose. In the back of his mind though, there’s a niggling piece of him that secretly craves and wishes and wants for a connection with one of the girls.

He most certainly had  _ not _ been keeping Quinn up the past three days flitting between worry and excitement, apprehension and anticipation, calling her at all hours and fretting about whether or not this was the right decision. Regardless, he knows she’ll take his (admittedly embarrassing) secrets to the grave.

And if she doesn’t, he’s got enough dirt on her to take him down with her.

When he finally reaches her at the end of the line, there’s an almost lost expression on her normally blank face. It sets off a weird protective alarm inside him and he immediately pulls her into his chest.

“Don’t cry for me,” he says, mock-tearfully, though it’s closer to the truth than he’d care to admit, “I won’t allow it.”

Her response is muffled against his chest but he barely catches the words “forget” and “miss you” and feels actual tears spring to his eyes.

“Ah lass,” he chuckles softly, pulling away so they’re properly eye-to-eye, “I could never forget you! Unless you change your hair again or something, then we might have a problem.” His lighthearted jabs seem to make her feel better, at least a little, and he eventually finds it in him to let go. He feels colder somehow without her in his arms but once again writes it off as trepidation in facing this new adventure.

“I love you,” she whispers, tears pooling in the corners of her bright blue eyes.

Something in his stomach does a weird flip at that and he sighs, reaching out to ruffle her hair because this has become way too sappy way too fast, “Love you too, Quinny Bear. Just wait, I’ll be on your telly in no time! It’ll be like I never left!”

Jonno claps him hard enough on the back that he stumbles and the two share a laugh before he finally heads through security and into adventure.

~+~+~+~

“Look at you all dressed up!” Finn howls.

It’s hard to keep himself together as he watches the faces of his best mates on screen. There’s nine of them crowded into a pile on the floor of Big Jonno’s living room, Micky still fiddling with the camera to the indignant shouts of his friends. To cover his tears he jumps from his seat, modeling his Mr. Love Island sash and twirling around the beach hut.

“Like it?” he asks, making over the top kissy faces at his friends on the screen. He strikes a pose he thinks Priya would approve off and does his best attempt at a shimmy. “I think I look pretty good!”

Dean is snickering beside Quinn, who looks much more tired than normal.

“You look absolutely  _ darling _ , mate,” Jonno agrees, throwing his arm casually around a couple of the others who echo his sentiment. “That little lass you’ve got with you’s a good one! She’s an absolute ten outta ten!”

His heart swells at the compliment as the room fills with wolf whistles and jeers. Jada is wonderful, an absolute sweetheart to everyone in the villa, and a joy in general to be around. They clicked the second she stepped out of the villa and have been going strong since day one. Quinn has that knowing look in her eye, the one that tells him she knows he’s already falling fast for her, and he can just make out the barest hint of a frown forming at the corner of her lips.

_ Strange _ , he muses. He thought she’d be more excited for him. Now though, if things go according to plan, it’ll be an easy month or two on the show and she’ll never have to listen to him whine about the friendzone ever again.

He manages to tune back into the conversation as Micky exclaims, “Let’s hope he can keep her! You’re absolutely punching there, mate!” His comment is met with raucous laughter from the others, only deepening Quinn’s frown and causing Bobby to stiffen. Sure, he knows it’s all in good fun, Mick would never really try to hurt him. The comment hits a bit too close to home, though, and he can feel himself quickly becoming more desperate for the call to come to an end. At least here the others don’t notice when he’s hurting.

“You’re just jealous he’s got a catch and your net’s come up empty,” Quinn snaps, and the others snicker when she smacks the taller man across the back of his head.

“Yeah, and it’s not like  _ someone _ isn’t already waiting for him,” Dean teases, nudging Quinn with a grin. Bobby chokes on the gulp of water he was trying to take and watches as his friend’s cheeks start to redden.

“Yeah, we’ve got loads of girls out here already asking after you, mate,” Jonno jumps in quickly. “Jada or no, you’ll be batting them off with a stick at this rate!” He doesn’t miss the fleeting glance between the pair.

Dean snorts, “I wouldn’t say  _ loads _ .”

“You shouldn’t say anything at all,” Markus pipes up from the back and the group shrieks in delighted hysterics once again.

The producers gesture for Bobby to wrap it up, indicating their time’s almost up, and he sighs deeply, a bittersweet mixture of relief and homesickness whirling inside him. He misses his mates so much, more than he expected, and he finds himself glancing at Quinn more than once as he says his goodbyes to his friends.

“Love you guys!” he chirps, making a heart with his hands and making kissy faces at the camera in a desperate attempt to hide the fact he is fully about to cry. The screen goes black and he can relax, though his misty eyes are becoming increasingly hard to ignore. He’s excited to tell the others what his friends said, to gush to Jada about how much they love her. As he leaves the beach hut and heads downstairs however, he can’t shake the image of Quinn’s frown from his mind. Maybe he’ll come back to that later.

~+~+~+~

Everything falls apart after Casa Amor and Bobby ends up booted off the show before the final ever happens. In the end, Jada realized her feelings weren’t as romantic as she originally thought, and isn’t that the story of his life. He and Hannah part on amicable terms and he makes a promise to keep in touch that he does not intend to keep. Jada looks good with Carl, he has to admit it, but damn if it doesn’t sting.

He doesn’t get to return home for another month or two; the public absolutely loved him, he ranked number one in  _ multiple _ polls, and he’s the ex of the season’s winner, so he has an obligation to meet with various television hosts, make radio appearances, and attend one too many events where he has to dress completely unlike himself.

The reunion is even worse, with scenes of his and Jada’s emotional breakup playing behind them as their relationship is brutally dissected for the entertainment of the entire UK. Not even a second after his scheduled appearances are over and done with, he runs home to his friends and family, all of whom welcome him back with drinks aplenty and a million jokes a minute.

Tonight they’re throwing him a welcome party at their favorite pub but he doesn’t feel too much like celebrating. Right now he just wants to drink and forget, briefly considers knicking a spliff from Finn, but thinks better of it as his mood further plummets when he catches Micky watching a highlight reel on his phone.

Someone drops into the stool beside him and he glances at them out of the corner of his eye. It’s Quinn, who has remained frustratingly absent throughout the majority of the day, even going so far as to leave Big Jonno to pick him up from the airport himself. She was always the better driver of the bunch, his heart is  _ still _ somehow in his stomach after a white-knuckle worthy drive home. At least, that’s where he thinks the feeling’s from. It certainly isn’t disappointment.

“Feeling good and sorry for yourself I see,” she says, and something in her tone makes him bristle.

“‘Ts not like I was expecting anything out of this,” he mumbles, but they both know that’s a lie.

Even through that stupid monitor he knew she could tell exactly what he was thinking when he was thinking it. Like a fool he’d been planning a future for himself and Jada; only a week in and he’d fallen so hard and fast. Maybe if he’d actually left after Casa Amor the way he originally wanted to it wouldn’t hurt this bad. The producers are to blame for that particular decision and he regrets it everyday.

Quinn snorts into her drink, taps the bar and gestures for the guy behind the counter to bring them a few shots. “You’re a shit liar,” she snarks, though not unkindly. Bobby flinches regardless when she reaches out to pat him gently on the back. “It hurts. I get it.”

The “I’m sorry” remains unspoken but they both know it’s there.

They down a few shots, shoot the shit and catch up with one another after spending so long apart. Surprisingly Quinn does most of the talking, a rarity if ever there was one, but he’s grateful for the distraction and is finally starting to feel like himself again. Shots and drinks continue to appear in front of him and the crowd eventually thins until they’re practically the only patrons left, tucked away at the corner end of the bar away from any lingering pitying looks and well-meaning words.

Bobby takes this time to bemoan his lack of prospects, curses whatever powers exist that made him so thoroughly unlovable. “Everyone wants stuffy boring blokes like Carl,” he grumbles, his boisterous facade finally crumbling. He can feel himself getting emotional, tries not to focus on the fact the tumbler on the counter in front of him is blurring considerably, tells himself it’s just because he’s drunk, he needs to order a water or something, and-

“I’d date you,” Quinn murmurs, placing a gentle hand on his arm. He stills immediately under her soft touch and blinks up at her, painful despair welling up once again when he catches the reflection of his own heartbroken feelings in her deep blue eyes. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, I hate seeing you like this. She’s mad for passing up a guy like you.”

Bobby snorts and tries to push away from the bar. “I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but I don’t need anymore pity tonight.” In one of her rare feats of strength, Quinn reaches out to grab his arm and forces him to face her.

“I’m serious, Bobby,” she insists, a confident fire in her eye. “I care about you. Anyone would be lucky to have you, you just don’t see it because-”

“Because what?” he snaps, finally wrenching his arm out of her grip. She stumbles a bit and he has to force himself to ignore the impulse to reach out and steady her. Instead of answering, Quinn’s eyes fill with tears and she scowls, downing her final shot and slamming a few bills on the table.

“Forget it,” she mutters, finally taking her leave. “You’d never believe me anyway.”

They make up quickly, because they always do. Bobby is almost always the first to approach, but this time it’s Quinn who extends the olive branch. He hugs her tightly, three long days of radio silence far too much for his already broken heart to handle.

Whatever she says is once again muffled against his chest but he feels content and happy for the first time since that stupid show ended and wishes briefly they could stay there forever.

~+~+~+~

Months pass and his heartache over Jada is quickly replaced with dreams of London, of a bakery with his name on it, of traveling to various places and spending time with his friends from the villa. Once he was able to separate his fame from his relationship with Jada he was all too happy to soak up the attention and has absolutely used it to his advantage. He’s even managed to secure an invitation to a special episode of  _ The Great British Baking Show _ , a fact he has not stopped rubbing in Finn’s face since it happened.

“At least introduce me to Mary Berry,” the other man had begged. Bobby just grinned and said he’d consider it.

The lads have been nothing but supportive, are more than happy for his newfound popularity with the public. It’ll be easier if he moves, he reasons over a pint with Jonno, to make all of his appearances.

Quinn doesn’t seem to agree.

She grows more distant once he breaks the news but he’s so busy with everything else going on he doesn’t really consider the meaning of her extended absence. No longer does she attend their nights in and when he’s out at the pub her bubblegum pink curls are disappointingly nowhere in sight. Jonno assures him it’s nothing to do with him when he asks, though the explanation he gets in return really isn’t much better.

“She’s got a job out in Newcastle now,” he explains during a late night shift. They’ve already finished up the majority of the cleaning they were assigned to do and are sitting on the (previously clean) counters chatting about life and their prospective futures when he brings up the fact she hasn’t been around. “Think she’s leaving soon, end of the week or something.”

Something about the whole thing just doesn’t sit right with Bobby. Sure they haven’t been as close as of late, but he thought that didn’t matter.  _ Guess I was wrong _ , he thinks sourly. He must not be as subtle about hiding his expressions as he hoped because the taller of the two claps him on the back and snorts.

“That’s not a pretty face,” Jonno teases, though his eyes betray his concern.

Bobby considers coming clean about his feelings on the matter but in the end decides against it and brushes it off, “Even at my worst I look better than you, mate.”

If Quinn’s got a fancy new job in Newcastle and doesn’t wanna talk about it with him then that’s fine. He’ll be happy for her whether she reciprocates the sentiment or not.

Alone at home, however, he can’t shake the feeling something is terribly off about it all. His stomach is completely tied up in knots and he can hardly sit still. When he’s sure his neighbors are about to come scream at him for pacing so loudly around his flat he makes the decision to finally go to her and get some proper answers. With renewed vigor he pulls on his coat and heads straight for the door. He’s surprised to see Quinn already on the other side when he opens it, hand raised to knock, frozen briefly in shock.

“Uh… hi?” she greets him, and it’s so awkward he could fucking die.

Instead of wallowing in the awkward tension, Bobby sighs and hugs her completely on instinct. “What’s this about you moving?” he asks, straight to the point like he knows she prefers.

She stiffens in his hold for only a moment but it’s long enough for him to take notice and he wonders how they got to this point. “I came to tell you,” she replies stiltedly, and it feels like she’s about to lie straight through her teeth but he lets it go, “I didn’t mean to hold off for so long, it’s just been a lot of planning. Everything’s happening really fast and I haven’t had much time to do anything.”

“Had enough time to talk to Jonno,” he murmurs, resting his chin on the top of her head. She nods, hesitantly, but doesn’t try to excuse herself further.

“I’m leaving tomorrow,” she explains instead. “Something’s already gone wrong and they need me there sooner. I couldn’t leave yet, though. Not until I…”

The silence between them is charged with something Bobby’s not sure he’s quite able to identify, but he thinks he felt something similar with Jada in the villa, when he thought he was going to lose her just before Casa Amor. Something about it feels like the end to him and he’s not sure he can take much more.

_ Oh shove off, that can’t be right _ , he insists to himself,  _ I’d never lose her like that _ . But looking down at the smaller woman, how nervous and sad and genuinely regretful she looks, he wonders if that’s really true.

“Bobby,” she whispers, fisting her hands gently in his shirt. She refuses to look at him but he can practically feel those bright blue orbs piercing straight through him as she says, “I’m in love with you.”

There’s something about the way she says it that just doesn’t compute. Quinn? In love with Bobby? This is a joke, right?

Quinn suddenly flinches away and he realizes he said that last part out loud. “A joke?” she repeats, and that quiet fire he’s missed so much has reignited tenfold. “Are you serious? I tell you I’m in love with you and  _ that’s _ your response?”

“Uh… sorry?”

Suddenly his cheek is burning, his face turned ever so slightly to the side with the force of impact and he realizes belatedly that Quinn just fucking  _ hit him _ .

“You’re an absolute bellend,” she snaps. In the next moment she’s gone.

Bobby watches his door slam, hears his neighbors’ dogs barking with the shock of the sound, and his heart sinks.

Somehow, Bobby thinks he’s missed something huge.

~+~+~+~

“You seriously didn’t fucking know?” Jonno groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Finn wheezes, practically doubled over in his seat, as he slaps the tabletop with more force than is strictly necessary. That earns him a swift glare from their server, which Bobby immediately apologizes for, shooting a chastising look at his friends.

It’s been almost a month since Quinn left so suddenly. The lads have noticed him acting strange, consistently inquiring as to why he continues to push his plans for London further and further back a week. The truth is he doesn’t know why, though he’s beginning to suspect the constant lead feeling in his gut since a certain blue eyed girl walked out of his life could be the culprit.

“I just don’t get it,” he says, fisting his locs in his hands. “Why would she just… dump that on me and then leave?”

All laughter stops then and Finn straightens himself out, an odd expression on his face. “Mate… she told you she was interested ages ago.”

Bobby furrows his brow and frowns. “What do you mean? She’s never once hinted to me that she likes me, she’s never once said-”

Oh.

_ Oh. _

Oh, shit.

From his spot across the table Jonno snorts. “So you’ve finally caught on, huh?”

Spluttering, Bobby accidentally knocks his water over, an act which immediately sends Finn into another tizzy as the apologetic man struggles to wipe up the mess. “It didn’t seem like a confession from her when she did it!” he protests weakly. “Like, the first time…”

“The  _ first  _ time? There have been  _ other  _ times?”

“Well, yeah, she tried to-”

“Hold on just a fucking minute, mate,” Finn says, pushing a finger obnoxiously against his mouth. “You’re telling me that Quinn has confessed to you  _ more than once _ and not one of those times did you stop to think ‘huh, this has happened quite a bit, wonder if she actually maybe likes me!’”

Bobby feels small all of a sudden, but he doesn’t think he’s entirely in the wrong. She hadn’t been totally clear about her intentions or the meaning behind her words, he’s absolutely certain of that. But maybe that’s why she did it that way. Maybe she was working up the courage, or too worried about her  _ own _ place in his life since he’s more used to having girls as mates than actual potential partners, and-

“Oh my fucking god.”

“He finally gets it!”

Bobby checks his watch. It’s a three hour drive to Newcastle from here, if he leaves now he thinks he could catch her just as she comes out of the office. Without another word to his mates, he hops out of his seat and makes a break for the door.

“Where are you going?” Finn calls after him.

“Newcastle!” he shouts back, a wild grin on his face.

The drive is long and frankly annoying and he definitely isn’t going to catch Quinn coming out of work but he manages to strongarm her address out of Jonno and arrives right as she does. He catches sight of her brightly colored curls bouncing just outside her building and makes a mad dash across a busy street to finally reach her.

“Quinn!” he shrieks. He has the decency to look apologetic when he startles her so hard she falls flat on her ass on the pavement.

When he finally makes it to her side and lifts her up from the ground, hesitant pools of blue meet fierce amber in an oddly soul-splitting moment and everything just seems to click.

“Bobby?” she asks, still apparently reeling from her tumble and the realization that Bobby fucking McKenzie is in Newcastle nearly a month after she literally smacked him in the face.

“Quinn,” he breathes, and he’s so fucking close to giving in, to throwing caution to the wind and just ravishing her right there in the street, but he’s got to get this out or he never will, “I love you too.”

Suddenly Quinn jumps him, her arms locked tightly around his shoulders and legs wrapped haphazardly around his waist. Crying out in surprise, Bobby barely manages to catch her, still goes tumbling onto the ground in a sick form of payback as she kisses him.

Her lips are electric against his and he moves to quickly deepen it to something more than just a simple kiss. He tries to pour his entire heart and soul into it, an apology and a plea and a promise all wrapped into one and she seems to  _ get it _ because she always gets it, has always been there for him, has always understood without need for explanation.

When the two of them finally pull away, Bobby’s ass is sore and he thinks his phone screen has shattered in his back pocket but he can’t be bothered to care. His entire world is snuggled into his chest now, pressing soft, careful kisses to his neck and he’s never been happier.

“I love you, you bloody idiot,” she whispers, and this time Bobby gets it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :)


End file.
